Means for holding note-disks of mechanical musical instruments.



No. 649,356. Patented May 8, IQOO. F. A. RICHTEB.

MENS FOR HOLDING 'NOTE DISKS OF M ECHNIGL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

(Lppxiezeion ma nec. 23, 1889.)

4 SheeIs-Sheet I.

(Nu Model.)

No.'649,356. Patented May 8, IQOO. F. A. RlHTER.

MEANS FOR HOLDING NOTE DISKS OF MECHNIGAL MUSICAL INSTBUMENTS.

(Applicaion flled Dec. 28, 1899.)

No. 649,356. Patented May 8, 1900. F. A. RICHTER.

MEANS FOR HOLDING NOTE DISKS OF MECHANIGAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

(Application flled Dec. 28, 1899.) (Nu Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

` Nu. 649,858. Patented Maya, 1900. F. A. mcHTEn. MEANS FOR HODING NOTEDISKS OF MEGHANIGAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

' (Application flled Dec. 23, 1.899.)

(No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

TH: Ncmms Pz'rzns cc,, vHoToumo.. wAsmNaToN. D. c.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRIEDRIOH ADOLF RIOI'ITER, OF RUDOLSTADT, GERMANY.

MEANS FOR HOLDlNG NOTE-DISKS OF MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION formng part of Letters Patent No. 649,356, dated May 8,1900.

Application filed December 28, 1899. Serial No. 741,469. (No model.)

T0 all wwm, it may concern- Be it known that LFRIEDRICH ADOLF RICH- TER,asubject of the'King of Bavaria, residing` at Rudolstadt, in thePrincipality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German Empire, have invented acertain new and nsef ul Improvement in Means for Holding' the Note-Disksin Mechanical Musical Instruments, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to mechanical musical instruments of the class inwhich the reeds are operated by levers, star-Wheels, or the likeactuated by slots or tongues provided in or on the face of a circular,preferably a metallic, disk, more generally known under the term ofnote-Sheet or note-disk, said note-disk being' adapted to be placed onthe horizontal plate of usual and well-known construction carried by aspring-actuated Vertical or main shaft of the instrument, so as torotate therewith, thereby actuating the playing levers or wheels or thelike and to allow the note-disk of being' removed therefrom at any time.

The object of this invention is to provide means for allowing the diskto be readily placed on and removed from the instrument, especially forefficiently maintaining at any position,vertical or inclined,the arm orholder providedfor holding' the note-disk on said plate, and, further,to provide'special means operated by said holder for bending, holding,and guiding the note-disk in proper position when the tune is beingplayed, said means being,` simple in construction and at the same timeadapted to operate satisfactorily in that the disk will be allowed to beplaced on the parts of the instrument provided for supporting the diskwithout thereby becoming deformed or uneven, and again to be easilyremoved therefrom and replaced by another.

To this end my invention consists in the arrangement and construction ofparts more fully hereinafter specified, and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, said parts comprising, essentially, an arm or holder with oneend hinged or pivotally connected to the frame in the usual manner, saidholder being provided with a friction device at its hinged end formaintaining' the holder in any desired position when turned upward, and,further, comprising` a rotary disk provided in the holder and a seriesof. pairs of rolls operated by the holder for evenly holding, bending',and guiding the note-disk in a manner required for efficiently actuatingthe playing inechanisin without thereby producing that disturbing noisecaused in the instruments heretofore known by the undulatory movement ofthe disk.

The friction device at the hinged end of the holder consists of one ortwo disks attached to the elongated pins or pivots of the holder andprovided with a brake-strap or with two such straps, respectively, withone end connected to a spring fixed to the frame and the' other endattached to the frame itself. The means for holding, bending, andguiding the disk in accordance with and in dependency on the movement ofthe holder consist, respectively, of a rotary disk arranged in themiddle of the arm or holder, (provided that the holder is made of such alength as to eX- tend over the note-disk from end to end,) so

' as to press upon and hold the central portion of the note-disk as theholder is turned down- Ward into its looking position, thereby coperating with said rotary disk to keep the notedisk in proper position foractuating the playing mechanism, and of a lever and slidingrollsarrangement controlled by and coperating with said holder for holding,bending, and guiding the marginal part of the notedisk in accordancewith and in dependence upon the movement and position of the holder. Incase that the holder will be made only of about half the length of thediameter of the note-disk the rotary disk will be provided at the inneror free end of the holder.

In the drawings illustrating the invention, Figures 1 and 2 arerespectively a plan and an elevation of the arm or holder in closedposition on the frame. Ifig. 3 is a plan of the holder provided With therotary disk in the middle thereof. Fig. 4: is an elevation of the middleportion of the latter with the lateral parts broken away; andFig. 5 isan elevation of the holder shown in Fig. 3, partly in section and withsome of the parts broken away. Fig. G is an elevation of the guiding orholding and bending device operated by and oooperating with the holdershown in open or raised position, the fore part of the latter beingbroken away. Fig. 7 is a similar view with the parts in closed position,and Fig. 8 is a plan according to Fig: 7 with certain parts broken away.

The arm or holder c (see lfigs. l and 2) is hinged or pivotallyconnected to the posts l) on the bottom plate a, forming` the frame, bymeans of the pins or pivots (Z, extending' from the holderthrough holesprovided in the posts for the purpose. On the projeeting' ends of thepins and in proximity to the posts disks e and e', respectively, aremounted, separate strapsfand f',with one of their ends attached to theposts and with the other end to the free ends ofstrongsprings7,beinglaid around the disks, so that the said straps will exert underthe influence of the spring's a braking` strain or a frictionalstopping` effect on the disks, and consequently on the holder as thelatter is turned on its pivot. By these means the holder will be enabledto maintain or keep any inclined or erect position into which it will bebrought without requiring any special abutment or any other deviceaffordinp` a stop to the holder when thus removcd from its horizontal orlooking),` position.

lt is obvious that in lieu of the two disks I may use a single diskwithout thereby departing` from the nature of my in vention, and saidsingle disk may be mounted on either of the two pivots of the holder orotherwise may be arranged in the middle of the pin or axle forming` thepivots of the holder. In this case the end of the latter must beproperly recessed, so as to form two branches between which the disk isarrang'ed on the pin with the ends of the latter held by said branches.

In Order to prevent the note-disk from any undulatory movements eausing`disturbing` noses during its rotation, I provide in the holder a disk m,with a central bowl '[itting' snugly the prominent central part of thebaseplate o, covering the top of the Vertical shaft 'a (see Fig's. etand 5) and serving` as a support for the central portion of thenote-disk. From said disk m an arm projects upward, connecting the diskby means of a ball-andsocket joint 78 to the circular easing forming themiddle portion of the holder, a spring' [being` provided in the socket,Operating` to press the disk m downward toward the baseplate o.Supposing` the note-disk p to have been placed on the plate o and theholder c to be then turned downward and locked at its free end, it willbe seen that the disk m under the pressure of the spring Z Willuninterruptedly bear against the central portion of the notedisk,thereby causing the latter to lie fiat and even on the base-plate o andto remain under tension all the time the instrument is playing,notwithstanding` the tendency for undulatory movements arising in thenote-disk from the rotary movements imparted thereto while being`carried around together with the plate 0 and the disk m.

The lever and bending-rolls arrangement operated by the holder consistof a pair of bent levers or bars fu and a', (see Fig's. (3, '7,

and 8,) guided so that when the holder is being turned upward the pinsl, provided on the outer faces of the disks e and c', coperate with theslots e in the Vertical arm of said levers, so that the latter will bepushed forward and be retracted again when the holder is returned to itshorizontal or looking position. At the ends of the bottom plate a thereare two pairs of arms suitably hing'ed to the plate, each of said armsearrying a roll. 'r' rLL at its free end. Owing to their gravity or toSprings provided for this purpose, said arms assume a low or inclinedposition (see Fig. G) when the holder is turned upward, but will beerected and brought to a more or less Vertical position (see Fig. 7) bythe pins w and w', respectivelyprovided on the levers 'u and a' andpressing toward said arms when the holder is turned downward again, sothat said rolls cooperate with the rolls s' and s, provided for oneither end of the holder to bend, hold, and guide the note-disk placedbetween them. All the time the rolls r' and W, arranged at the ends ofthe bottom plate, are aetnated so as to change their position inaeeordance with and in dependence upon the position of the holder thelevers u and u' also act upon a set of suitabiy-arranged lcvers,preferably four in number and carried by four branches of the bottomplate (i, so that four sets of guiding-rolls, suitably provided at theends of said branehes, will eoiiperate with the rolls r' r* to hold,bend, and guide the note- (lisk when a inne is beinr played. Themechanism Operating' said 'four sets of rolls (shown in Figs. (3 to 8)consists of the levers a), sup ported by the branches 2 of the bottomplate and having' noses at one end extending toward and embracing' thebars and carrying at their other en ds short arms E3 and 1-, providedwith rolls r* and 1'3, respectively, at its upper end, and with asliding` lever pivotally connected to the arms 3 and et, extendingthrough holes in the ends of the branches, said sliding' leverscarrying` likewise rolls s at their upper ends.

VVhen the holder c is given an upright or inclined position, the nosesof the levers n; embrace the horizontal arms of the bent levers 'u it'at a point where the latter are recessed, (see Fig'. 6,) so as to allowthe outer arms of the levers, and hence the rolls /1'2 and rg, toassurne a low position owing' to the pressure of spring's attached tothe branches and actin` with their free ends upon the levers. At thesame time the sliding levers carried by the arms 3 and 4: descend andare forced to slide with their tapered lower ends on the upper surfaceof the branches 2, so that the rolls 8, carried by said levers, moveoutside in radial direction and away from the rolls /1'2 7'3, thusallowing' the note-disk to bo removed from the instrument and to bereplaced by another. Then the holder is turned back again to thehorizontal or looking position, the aforesaid bars u, a' take theposition shown in Fig'. 7, thereby allowing the levers .r to return lOOIlO

to the horizontal position under the action of their springs, and,further, allowing the sliding levers to slide back to their Verticalposition under the action of their Springs Z, so that i the rolls s comeagain in contact with the rolls 712 rg or with the note-disk placed uponthe latter, thereby assisting to hold, bend, and guide the disk, so asto prevent it from undulatory movements when rotating while the'instrument is playing. It is obvious that in doing this the said foursets of rolls coperate with the sets of rolls provided at either end ofthe holder and of the bottom plate, and, further, from the describedmode of operation of the said coperating sets of rolls it will be seenthat a holding, bending, and gnidiug device of this kind is by far moreefficient in use than the devices heretofore known for the purpose, andconsisting, essentially, of sets of rolls, the lower of which are fixedrolls-that is to say, rolls unchangeable in their Vertical positions.Rolls of this kind evidently are most inconvenient as regards thedifficulties existing in placiug a note-disk of a large size between theguiding-rolls, and, further, as regards the inconveniences consisting inthat a large disk tends to become uneven when being placed on and guidedby said fixed. rolls.

I wish it to be understood that I do not coniine myself to the exactdetails of construction or arrangement described and shown, as theseadmit of various modifications and variations within the scope of thisinvention.

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, What I desire to claim andsecure by Letters Patent isl. A mechanical musical instrument comprising a mechanism for producin g tunes from a circular note-disk, and adevice for holding the note-disk in proper position on the partssupporting the disk, said device consisting of an arm or holder having africtional brake at its hinged end for maintaining the holder when inopen position and a rotary disk at the part thereof corresponding to thecenter of the note-disk for holding and guiding the central part of thenote-disk and of a series of pairs of rolls operated by the holder so asto change their position in Vertical direction and coperating therewithto hold and guide the note-disk, substantially as described.

2. In a mechanical musicalinstrumenthaving a mechanism for producingtunes from a circular note-disk, the combination of an arm or holderhaving at its hinged end one or more disks With a springcontrolledbrake-strap thereon for maintaining the holder in any upright orinclined position given to the holder on disengaging it from the1iote-clisl ,substantially as described.

3. In a mechanical musical instrument having a mechanism for prodncingtunes from a circular note-disk, the combination of an arm or holderwith one end hinged to the bottom plate, a rotary disk connected to theholder by a ball-and-socket joint, a spring provided in said jointbetween said ball and the socket and a base-plate provided on theVertical or main shaft of the instument to support the note-disk so asto allow the spring-controlled rotary disk to press the central portionof the note-disk gently and evenly toward the said base-plate,substantially as described.

4. In a mechanical musical instrument having a mechanism for producingtunes from a circular note-disk, the combination of an arm 01' holderhaving at its hinged end one or more disks With a brake-strap thereon,and having a rotary disk connected to the holder by a balland-socketjoint to hold fiat the central part of the note-disk, during theplay ofthe instrument, substantially as described.

5. In a mechanical musical instrument having a mechanism for producingtunes from a circular note-disk, the combination with an arm or holderwith one end hinged to the bottom plate, of a series of pairs of rollsarranged atl different points of the frame corresponding to thecircumferential line of the note-disk, and means actuated by said holderfor causing the rollers to approach and recede from each other,substantially as described.

G. In a mechanical musical instrumenthaving a mechanism' for producingtunes froma circular note-disk, the combination with an arm or holderWith one end hinged to the bottom'plate, of a rotary disk connected tothe holder by a ball-and-socket joint, a series of pairs of rollersarranged at different points of the frame corresponding to thecircumferential line of the note-disk, and means actuated by said holderfor causing the rollers to approach and recede from each other,substantially as described.

7. In a mechanical musical instrument having a mechanism for producingtunes from a circular note-disk,the combination of an arm or holderhaving at its hinged end one or more disks as described with aspring-controlled brake Strap thereon for maintaining the holder' in anyupright or inclined position given to the holder on disengaging it fromthe note-disk, a series of pairs of rollers arranged at different pointsof the frame corresponding to the circumferential line of the notediskand means actuated by said holder for causing the rollers to approachand recede from each other, substantially as described.

8. In amechanical musical instrnmenthaving a mechanism for producingtunes from a circular note-disk the combination with an arm or holderhaving at its hinged end one or more disks as described with abrake-strap thereon, and having a rotary disk connected to the holder bya spring-Controlled ball-andsocket joint to hold and guide the centralpart of the note-disk, of a series of pairs of rolls operated by saidholder and coperating therewith to hold and guide the marginal part ofthe note-disk, substantially as described.

9.l In a mechanical musicalinstrument having a mechanism for producingtunes from a circular note-disk the combination With an arm orholderhaving at its hinged end one or IOC IIO

IIS

more disks as deseribed With a brake-strap thereon, and having a rotarydisk connected to the holder bya spring'controlled ball-andsocket jointto hold and guide the central part of the note-disk, of a series ofpairs of rolls arrang'ed at different points of the frame correspondingto the cireumferential line of the note-disk and means actnated by saidholder for causing the rollers to approach and reeede from each other,substantially as (lescribed.

10. In a mechanical musical instrument havinga meehanismforprodneingtunes from a cireular note-disk the combination With an armor holder With one end hinged to the bottom plate, of a series of pairsof rolls arranged at each end of the bottorn plate and of the holder andat the free ends of branehes projeeting' from the bottom plate, andmeans aetuated by said holder for eausing,` the rollers to approaeh andreeede from each other, snbstantially as deseribed.

11. In a mechanical musical instrument having a mechanism for prodneingtunes from a eirenlar note-disk the combination With an arm or holderhaving at its hinged end one or more disks as described with aspring-controlled brake-strap thereon for maintaining' the holder in anydesired upright or inclined position given to the holder on disengaging`it from the 'note-disk, of a series of pairs of rolls arrangred at eachend of the bottom plate and of the holder and at the free ends ofbranches projeeting' from the bottom plate, and means actuated by saidholder for causing the rollers to approaeh and reeede from each other,substantially as deseribed.

12. In a mechanical musical instrument havinga mechanism forproducing'tunes from a eircular note-disk the combination With an arm orholder With one end hinged to the bottom plate, of a rotary diskconnected to the holder by a ball-and-soeket joint, a spring provided insaid joint between the ball and the socket, a base-plate provided on theYertieal or main shaft ot' the instrument to support the notedisk so asto allow the rotary disk to press the central portion of the notedisktoward the base-plate, and a series of pairs of rolls arrang'ed at eachend of the bottom plate and of the holder and at the free ends ofbranches projeeting` from the bottom plate, and means actuated by saidholder for cansing the rollers to approach and reeede from each other,substantially as deseribed.

13. In a mechanical musical instrument havinga mechanismforproducing'tnnes from a eircnlar note-disk the combination With an armor holder having' at its hinged end one or more disks as described Witha spring-con trolled brake-strap thereon, of a rotary disk connected tothe holder by a ball-and-soeket joint, a spring` provided in said jointbetween the ball and the socket, a base-plate provided on the Verticalor main shaft of the instrument to support the note-disk so as to allowthe rotary disk to press the central portion of the note-disk to'wardthe base-plate, and a series ofpairs of rolls arran ged at each end ofthe bottom plate and of the holder and at the free ends of branchesprojecting from the bottom plate, and means actuated by said holder foreausing the rollers to approach and reeede from each other,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresenee ot' two subscribing' witnesses.

FRIEDRICH ADOL'F RICHTER. Witnesses:

ROBERT R. SOHMIDT,

ALBERT MASOHKE.

